worked for Mattel's Hot Wheels brand and Jada Toys. Tscherne was inducted into the Diecast Hall of Fame in 2011. Johnny Lightning received a major overhaul of its image in 2006. A new clamshell style package arrived stores in January 2007 with the release of the new Johnny Retro series. A new logo treatment was also introduced and the logo and package design were products of a partnership with Design Force and directed by Tscherne among others. Additional overhauling of the brand included updating many of the long-time collector favorite series like Classic Gold and Muscle Cars which received new packaging graphics developed in the West Coast office by Jeremy Cox and Tscherne. A large price increase coincided with the new package, leaving many collectors upset with RC2's management and decision making associated with the beloved Johnny Lightning brand. In September 2007 Mac Ragan left RC2 for Greenlight Toys. Tom Zahorsky remained the Johnny Lightning design manager until RC2 discontinued production in 2013. Zahorsky no longer works for RC2/Tomy. For a time, Johnny Lightning vehicles were sold by Learning Curve Inc., formerly known as RC2. In 2007 Johnny Lightning expanded to offer more than just adult collectibles by introducing Battle Wheels. Battle Wheels is a line of remote controlled robots that battle one another. They also introduced the world's first transforming RC vehicle the V_BOT. Tomy In 2011, the Japanese toy company Tomy bought RC2 Corp., acquired the Johnny Lightning line, and for a while sold Johnny Lightning cars in the U.S. with the TOMY logo on the packages. However, in 2013 Tomy Toys announced it would no longer produce the Johnny Lightning brand and it was discontinued. Round 2: Johnny Lightning relaunch In January 2016, three years after its second disappearance from the market, the Johnny Lightning die-cast brand was relaunched once again by Thomas Lowe and his Round 2 toy company which also produces the Auto World and Racing Champions brands of die-cast cars. Although Johnny Lightning cars are now made by Round 2 (under license from TOMY International), the Playing Mantis logo returned to the front of Johnny Lightning packaging for continuity with the previously produced Playing Mantis Johnny Lightning cars. In addition, Tom Lowe hired four original Playing Mantis designers to work on the Johnny Lightning line: Tony Karamitsos, Mike Groothuis, Mac Ragan, and Scott Johnson (of Pitcock Design). References 11, From product package 12, From